When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don't blame the lettuce. You look for reasons it is not doing well. It may need fertilizer, or more water, or less sun. You never blame the lettuce.

Just observe whatever arises. Don't try to create anything, and don't reject anything.

In the moment of pure noting, there is no self - only the knowing and the known.

Don't try to change the world. First, change yourself.

The most important thing is to enjoy your life - to be happy. This is the goal of Buddhist practice.

The greatest obstacle to meditation is our expectation about what it should be.

When you practice zazen you should not try to attain anything. You should just sit in the complete calmness of your mind and not rely on anything.

The highest mantra is to be without deception. The highest medicine is to have few desires. The highest meditation is not to be attached.

Meditation is like catching a fish. If you try to catch it quickly, you'll miss it. If you have patience and know how to wait, the fish will come.

Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.

Live in joy, in love, even among those who hate. Live in joy, in health, even among the afflicted. Live in joy, in peace, even among the troubled. Look within, be still.

The practice of Dharma is a constant battle within oneself.

Only when you can be extremely pliable and soft can you be extremely hard and strong.

Though the view should be as vast as the sky, keep your conduct as fine as barley flour.

The essence of Buddhism is not a belief system but a systematic investigation of our experience.

Just as true humor is laughter at oneself, true humanity is knowledge of oneself.

Words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world.

Every time we become aware of a thought, as opposed to being lost in a thought, we experience that opening of the mind.

Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.

Through understanding emptiness, one does not become proud of one's virtues, just as one does not become proud of building a castle in the sky.

Only to the extent that we expose ourselves over and over to annihilation can that which is indestructible be found in us.

The greatest obstacle to connecting with our joy is resentment.

When you recognize that pain and suffering are impermanent, you become free.

Study the Buddha's teaching which is present in every moment.

The Noble Eightfold Path is a path of training: training in ethical conduct, training in mental discipline, and training in wisdom.

The way to change others' minds is with affection, and not anger.

The silence between the notes is as important as the notes themselves.

Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.

When you practice gratefulness, there is a sense of respect toward others.

Vipassana is the art of living. Not the art of escaping.

Change is possible because there is nothing inherently permanent about our disturbing emotions.

If you love someone, the greatest gift you can give them is your presence.

Silence is so much more productive of wisdom and clarity than thinking.